Dreams to Reality web series (2000-2004)
In June 2000, the Dreams to Reality '''web series site was created at Yahoo! Geocities, and later moved to Tripod. The site was updated for four years until April 2004, when the final episode (though more were planned) was posted online. The site has since been deleted and is no longer available for viewing. This section will compile as much information as possible about the web series, its storylines, and their role in shaping the new series of novels currently being written. Numerous differences between the web series and the new series of novels will be readily apparent, but there will be a considerable amount of information in this section that will be dangerously close to spoilers for the new novel series, so beware of that before continuing forward in this section. Dreams to Reality: The Second Incarnation (2000-2004) The web series was written in the following format: *Episodes were presented as transcripts of a faux-television episode, but ''not ''transcripts of a script, per se, but rather, took great care to describe what would be occurring onscreen at any given point in the episode as if it were being presented on television and not as print media. *Episodes took place in the span of just four days on the series timeline at the time, between May 24 and May 27, 2000, usually in Eagle Creek, Ohio. Later episodes began to introduce characters in Long Beach, California as a spin-off series, Past to Future, was being planned in 2002 and 2003 for a late 2003 premiere, which never made it past the initial planning stages. *The primary cast was made up of 14-year-olds, with several ages around 14 also prominently featured, which was the primary ages of the cast in the original novella series. The primary cast would be aged three years by the new novel series, but the timeline is shifted backward nearly a year and a half, esentially, meaning that by the time the novel series gets around to its interpretation of the events of the web series, the cast is approximately three to four years older in the new series. *Beginning with episode #26, it was announced that the series would be taking on a "story arc" format, where 65-episode blocks would form one story arc, similar to what was being utilized at the time by ABC with its soap opera, ''Port Charles. ''The first story arc, "It's My Life," borrowed the Bon Jovi song of the same name for its theme song during this time, and was originally intended to span episodes #26-90, but fell far short, ending with the series at episode #30. After the establishment of the "It's My Life" story arc, the first 25 episodes were retroactively attached the title "The Beginning" as a story arc title. *The struggle between good versus evil began to make its presence known approximately halfway through the web series' episodes, with Michael Bennett being established as the central hero from an an early stage, having suddenly come into a great amount of superhuman powers, including precognition, telepathy, telekinesis, shield generation, and apparently more to come. He must then use these powers to save himself and those closest to him to a variety of different threats, generally in the form of the serial killer, Skullface, or in the form of the supernatural evil entity known as the Pearla Avatar. Additional cast members were later revealed to have similar powers to Michael, but Michael tended to be the one to have to save the day. *A highly implausible amount of action took place within Eagle Creek in the four-day span that was featured in the web series, which ultimately led to the cancelation of the series. The series, which purported itself to be as realistic as possible given the unrealistic storylines, was far from it and became so convoluted it could not continue. Much of the basic elements of storylines in the web series will at some point be worked into the new novel series, at various points in the first 17 or 18 installments of the series, but much of the novel series will be very different with the exception of the Eagle Creek characters themselves. Premise The premise of the web series was surrounding Michael Bennett's very-rapidly changing life as he suddenly comes into his powers as Silurian Gold, leader of the Silurian Warriors, after his 14th birthday. He quickly realizes that he must use his developing powers to help himself and his friends survive an onslaught of unbelievably violent and terrifying events, beginning with the arrival of a masked serial killer, continuing with a fatal shooting at his school, several of his friends being kidnapped and held hostage by the serial killer, several other friends being used as brainwashed pawns of ther serial killer, as well as the arrival of he Pearla Avatar and the unleash of the Curse of the Pearla Statue. Michael must find a way to save the day nearly every time, and always manages to escape unscathed from whatever danger he is in, no matter how dire, including a near-death experience in which an entire building collapsed upon him. Eventually, it was made clear that a considerable amount of characters had a connection to one another in some way due to a past in Long Beach, California, and by 2002, a separate series based in Long Beach was planned, initially called '''From the Past to the Future before ultimately being shortened to simply, Past to Future. However, the cancelation of the main series before the spin-off series could get started also meant the end of the spin-off series, as well. Story *''Main Article: 'Web Series Episode Summaries Emerging Psychic Abilities, Secret Crushes, and the Arrival of a Masked Madman At the beginning of the series, the students at Eagle Creek Junior High School make preparations for the upcoming school dance. Michael Bennett and Rachel McCarey admit their feelings for one another and plan to attend the dance together, while Mark Shane is hospitalized after being hit in the chest with a baseball during a baseball game at school. Melinda Flint pushes Nicole Halloway down a flight of stairs following a physical altercation in class, causing Nicole to be knocked unconscious and hospitalized as well. However, Nicole's life appears to be the target of a masked man wearing a skull mask, carrying a large sharpened metallic hook. (DtRW #1) Michael Bennett told Rocky Fronset that he asked Rachel McCarey to the upcoming school dance because he refused to tell him who his secret admirer was. Meanwhile, David Richards told Danielle Grayson that he believed that Michael Bennett had a crush on her, but she would soon learn that he actually asked Rachel McCarey, devastating Danielle, who was comforted by Brandon Danber. Josh Poncek nearly pushed Melinda Flint down a flight of stairs in retaliation for what she did to Nicole Halloway, but was stopped from doing so by David Richards and Mandy Marin. The skull-masked man, nicknamed Skullface, shot an arrow from a crossbow with a note attached to it into the side of Jarrid Harlen's mother's car, which claimed that Nicole was dead and that he would be as well if he got in the way. Nicole awakened from a nap to see Skullface looking in at her, but she was the only one who saw him, but Michael and Josh were concerned when Nicole told them what she saw. While Skullface set a fire at a backyard wood pile, Michael had a disturbing vision about Nicole dying and decomposing into a skeleton at the same time as Skullface burned a photograph of Nicole. (DtRW #2) Cast of Characters *''Cast of Characters'' Locations *''Locations '' Web Series Timeline The timeline in the 2000-2004 web series places the events of the series within a four-day span of time taking place between Wednesday, May 24, 2000 and Saturday, May 27, 2000. As the series continued, additional events that occurred prior to the beginning of the series were explored, but all current action in the series took place on one of four days, despite the extraordinary amount of changes to the town's status quo in those four days. *Web Series Timeline Differences and Similarities between web series and novella series Differences and Similarities between web series and novel series Continuity Changes Canceled Spin-off Series *''Main article: 'Past to Future (canceled 2003 spin-off web series)'